The Efflorescence of Weird Poetry
H. P. Lovecraft considered himself a poet first and foremost: on the 1930 census form, he listed his occupation as “poet.” Yet, weird poetry is largely overlooked by Lovecraft fans in favor of prose. Poets in the weird poetry movement posit that poetry (particularly formal metred poetry) is the most Lovecraftian medium of all, and the best for expressing spectral moods and effects—for conveying the vastness of cosmic horror. Joshi (M), Bolivar, Dioses, Brock, Myers, Opperman
Illustration is "HP Lovecraft" by Virgil Finlay, 1937
S. T. Joshi has prepared comprehensive editions of H. P. Lovecraft’s collected fiction, essays, poetry, and letters. He is the author of The Weird Tale (1990), The Modern Weird Tale (2001), I Am Providence: The Life and Times of H. P. Lovecraft (2010), and Unutterable Horror: A History of Supernatural Fiction (2012), and has edited the anthology American Supernatural Tales (2007) and the Black Wings series of Lovecraftian tales.
Adam Bolivar is a formal poet of folkloric fantasy, a weird fiction writer and a playwright for marionettes with a particular interest in alliterative verse, balladry and Jack tales. He is the author of THE LAY OF OLD HEX (Hippocampus Press, 2017), THE ETTINFELL OF BEACON HILL (Jackanapes Press, 2021), BALLADS FOR THE WITCHING HOUR (Hippocampus Press 2022) and A WHEEL OF RAVENS (Jackanapes Press, 2023). Discover more at https://adambolivar.com
Jason V Brock is an award-winning writer, editor, filmmaker, and artist whose work has been widely published in a variety of media (Weird Fiction Review print edition, S. T. Joshi's Black Wings series, Fangoria, and others). He describes his work as Dark Magical Realism. He is also the founder of a website and digest called [NameL3ss]; his books include A Darke Phantastique, Disorders of Magnitude, and Simulacrum and Other Possible Realities. His filmic efforts are Charles Beaumont: The Life of Twilight Zone’s Magic Man, The AckerMonster Chronicles!, and Image, Reflection, Shadow: Artists of the Fantastic. Popular as a speaker and panelist, he has been a special guest at numerous film fests, conventions, and educational events, and was the 2015 Editor Guest of Honor for Orycon 37. A health nut/gadget freak, he lives in the Vancouver, WA area, and loves his wife Sunni, their family of herptiles, running their technology consulting business, and practicing vegan/vegetarianism.
D. L. Myers is a writer of Weird poetry in the vein of H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith and Robert E. Howard. His work has appeared in Spectral Realms, Halloween Howlings and K. A. Opperman's The Crimson Tome. He also is an accomplished reader of poetry, and he does a weekly video poetry reading of contemporary and classic Weird poets, as well as his own work, which he posts on his blog vulravin.blogspot.com. He also had his debut live poetry reading at the H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival, San Pedro. He lives in the mist-shrouded Skagit Valley of the Pacific Northwest.
A native southern Californian, K. A. Opperman is a poet of horror and fantasy writing in the Weird tradition of H. P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith. His work has appeared in such notable publications as Spectral Realms, Weird Fiction Review, Weirdbook, Skelos, Gothic Blue Book, the Horror Writers Association's Horror Poetry Showcase, and many other magazines. His debut book-length verse collection The Crimson Tome was released by Hippocampus Press in August 2015, and he has a second collection well underway. Against the fashion of the times, he writes solely in careful rhyme and meter, whether it be for a magazine, or for a wine label for Lovecraft Wines.